Mary Lou Brown, president of the Delmarva Chicken Association and owner-operator of Maple Breeze Farm, told the House Environment and Transportation Committee on Jan. 28 that highly pathogenic avian influenza is the greatest concern facing Delmarva poultry growers.

Brown, who said her operation runs six commercial chicken houses that produce more than 600,000 broilers a year, described daily biosecurity routines and the difficulty of keeping the virus off farms. "It's scary. Me personally, I'm scared to death what I will see when I walk into that chicken house," she told committee members.

The Delmarva chicken industry, Brown said, is large and interconnected: more than 1,200 independent family farmers operate roughly 4,900 chicken houses across Delaware, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia, tied to five chicken companies and about 18,000 company employees. Brown said the industry produced about 613,000,000 birds in 2024 and estimated the Maryland grower community had nearly 550 growers and a roughly $550,000,000 total economic impact in the state; she said the industry contributed more than $255,000,000 in local and state taxes.

Brown outlined the on-farm measures her family uses to reduce disease risk, including minimizing visitors to the farm, segregating manure-handling activities from live flocks, and using fixed on‑farm boot sets and bleach footbaths at entry points. "When we go into that chicken house, we step in bleach. Then before we go where the chickens are, we put on a pair of boots over top of what we have on or change boots," she said.

She acknowledged that even rigorous biosecurity can fail when environmental contamination occurs: "It just doesn't work when there's crap all over the driveways and such. And that's what carries it in," Brown said, noting that risk will remain until wild-bird migration subsides.

Brown invited legislators to industry events during Maryland Ag Week, including a "Chicken Day" in Annapolis that will feature a virtual reality tour of a chicken house and opportunities to meet growers.

No formal committee actions were taken during the briefing; Department of Agriculture Secretary Addison attended to listen. Committee members asked panelists questions after the presentations but did not vote on or direct new policy in this session.